Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel | Klosterbrauerei Andechs

Notes / Commercial Description:
This world famous bock from Bavaria’s Holy Mountain is not meant to be rushed, but savoured slowly. As solid as a rock, Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel presides over the evening meal with a colour reminiscent of dark copper with nuances of fiery red. Its clear gleaming look harmonises with its firm, fine pored head.

Also the aroma delights the connoisseur: soft roasted accents and a nuance of dried fruit carrying a vein of caramel. This Doppelbock Dunkel from Bavaria’s Holy Mountain presents a pleasant effervescence. And then there’s the unmistakable flavour: mouthcoating and velvety, strong and yet pleasantly malty – a powerful, robust body. At the same time, it develops an easily recognisable sweetness, embraced in roasted cocoa and a light, bitter hoppiness.

Concluding with a powerful punch, this Doppelbock departs with a lingering aftertaste of quality plain chocolate. A strong Doppelbock that embodies the centuries old Benedictine brewing tradition, sip by delicious sip.

From a .5L 2014 bottle.
I've had this excellent dunkel on tap at the brewery in Andechs several times over the past few years. While the bottled version is not quite as pleasing as the fresh draft version I remember it is certainly excellent for style. The alcohol is very well hidden, there's a rich malty backbone, and the beer has great balance.

Had on tap at the Klosterbrauerei Andechs, served in a 0.5L glass in the bier garten. The beer was dark auburn, kind of a burgandy shade of brown with a tan head. The liquid was clear, possibly it was aged to perfection by the monks.

The smell strongly reminded me of the wort from my home-brewing excursions, a very nice and strong malty aroma. The flavor was sweet and malty, a bit of fresh baked bread, and a tad bitter in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is great, a really big thick presence. For drinkability I'm going to knock off a full point, in that you can tell there's a buzz hitting you and the threat of impending drunken stupor stops your hand from reaching for the glass too often.

Overall, not as outstanding as I'd hoped but a very good beer nonetheless.

Presentation: Finally! A HUGE thank-you goes out to Kate F. for picking this up for me while she was in Munich. Sadly, I couldn't get my act together and get it before the best-by date (3-5-11) had passed (damn you, recession) but it's here now, and I'm stoked to try it. 500ml brown slimline pop-top with nice label poured into 18oz dimple stein. Bring it on.

Appearance: Pours an attractive dark walnut with burgundy highlights. This sports a dark ivory/light tan cap wihch soon fades to a thick ring. Would like a little more head retention on this, but that could have something to do with the age.

Smell: Now this gets things back on track! I was worried this might be somewhat muted or downplayed, considering the age, but it smells friggin delicious. Sweet dark caramel, huge notes of toasty bread, and a hint of apple and raisin jump out. The aromas are big and bold too; this smells absolutely delicious.

Taste: The taste is very smooth up front, and displays a nice mix of caramelly/bready and fruity flavors. Sweet, dark caramel leads things off, followed by toasty bread, and then by a dry maltiness (Munich, likely?). You think that's the aftertaste, but then you get a bit of dark fruitiness (I'm thinking dates, maybe)? This flavor, while nice, is a bit muted, and I'm wondering if this is one of the losses of age. Either way, this is a remarkably smooth Dopplebock that tastes more like 6% than just over 7% abv. A medium, firm bitterness brings up the back end.

Mouthfeel: Fairly full and rich.

Overall: I think I can say that a few weeks out from the brewery, this is probably more than worthy of 'the best dopplebock in the world' title that it receives here on BA. Even now, with four months having passed since the 'best by' date, this is still probably my favorite dopplebock I've ever had. I love the strong, toasty bread and caramel flavors and the way they balance with a hint of dark fruit. The hop bitterness is just enough to keep this from becoming cloying. Really well done. Thanks again to Kate for this awesome treat!

Bottle:
Revisit April bottle coded L0536:
Looks and smells great-dark brown, clear, with a bubbly tan head. Nose is molasses, brown sugar, dates, figs. I also get a light smokey note, very subtle.

Revisit (rating adjusted for it);
Bordering on roasted malt, there's a light chocolate note to the molasses opening that is kept in check by a clean, maybe slightly woody bitterness. There's the slightest bit of burnt toast before the dark fruit notes come out. Feel is just on the heavy side, but carbonation in this bottle is fine.
Original:
The taste, and more so the feel, are a disappointment. Maybe I (or the distributor) let this sit too long, but it was damn near flat. The body was decent despite this, but it was hard to get by. The flavor, which mostly mimicked the nose, was perhaps a tad too sweet, but dark fruit and brown sugar seemed close to the right profile for this malty beer.

My hopes is I will revisit this once to see if the feel was an anomaly. Given the ratings it seems like it deserves another shot.
Revisit: Forget that statement for almost a year, but it was one I should've paid attention to. This beer is far better than my original experience (3.79), with taste, feel, and overall all increasing.

Luckily I won't be hesitant again, but we're at a tie now - assuming and hoping my more recent experience is the norm going forward.

This beer pours a deep deep red with an initially thick tan creamy head around an inch high. Beautiful at first, though retention and lace levels are around average. Some nice tiny bubbles cling to the sides of the glass as it sloshes around. The aroma is immensely appetizing with the scent of fresh barley, chocolatey malts, and a good amount of fruitiness such as banana and even grape. Smells fresh and appealing.

The flavor ix a mix of grapes, fresh barley, some banana esters even, quite fruit as opposed to malty, in this respect it comes off as similar to an ale here. Despite the relatively low ABV I get a little bit of alcohol (which makes it a bit winelike--hmm, a recurring theme for highly rated beers out of Europe I have noticed) along with an earthy hoppy bitterness on the midpalate and a cookielike finish.

Body is only medium with a respectively full level of carbonation. It definitely still feels like a drinkable lager. A very finely crafted lager, looks and smells great, good flavor, and feel reminds me that this is indeed a lager, feels too light though, almost like a pilsener. I came into this with absurdly high expectations, however, and as far as taste goes I found this to be quite a good doppelbock, but probably not my favorite.

In comparison with other high rated and common examples (Samichlaus, Celebrator, Salvator), this is pretty standard. Not a lot of distinct character, just a well done doppelbock. Fans of the style will appreciate this grand dark lager.

This dopplebock pours a brown color with a slightly red tint. It is lighter than most dopplebocks that I’ve seen. It has a light, frothy head of foam and a high amount of carbonation. The smell is fairly sweet with notes of caramel and some fruit notes, possibly cherry and dates. There is a nice variety bready, caramel, and chocolate malt flavors, though the body is a bit lighter than optimum for a dopplebock in my opinion, though many other reviewers claim the opposite. The fruit flavors are a little more subtle, but there is definitely a slight date and maybe some cherry flavor as well. The flavor is a little sweet, but not as sweet as the smell would have you believe. The finish is slightly on the dry side. Overall this is a pretty good dopplebock, but I’ve definitely had better. The flavor profile is pretty interesting, but despite what reviewers say it tastes a little light compared to my favorites like Celebrator, Unser Aventinus, and Korbinian. Other than those though it’s pretty great, but I do think it's a little overrated.

A: The beer is crystal clear but very dark garnet red in color and has a slight amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a quarter finger high off white head that died down, leaving a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface and a collar around the edge of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of sweet brown bread are present in the nose along with hints of raisins.
T: The overall taste mostly follows the smell and has lots of flavors of sweet brown bread along with hints of raisins. The taste becomes more complex as the beer warms up.
M: It feels a bit more than medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer has a complex taste; although it is a little fuller in body, this beer is still relatively easy to drink because any traces of alcohol are well hidden from the taste.

Appearance- Pours up a good amount of head which basically has no retention. The head is a light beige while the body is a mix of dark amber, maroon, and garnet which glows a crimson red to ruby when held up to the light. No lacing at all.

Nose- Delicious- if I were to sum it in one term, I would use fruitcake. But this beer is much more complex than that. Definite raisin and cherry, almost the candied kind with spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. A creamy, almost milk quality that hints at chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, and caramel. Some roasted malt qualities as well. This is very promising. Some honey and nectar as well. Light smoke- smells like a nitro beer but it's in a bottle.

Taste- Starts off with the nitro feel with minor chocolate, cocoa, and caramel which moves into deeper, roasted notes combined with raisin and cherry. Slight bitterness with hints of oak and vanilla. Some spice- nutmeg and cinnamon, tiny bit of clove. Not quite as delightful as the aroma but still intriguing. This is much more about subtlety than dominating your taste buds. Nice malt bill that is complex and well rounded but doesn't have much presence. This isn't a bad thing as I generally only appreciate towering malt bills in scotch ales and imperial stouts. A little bit of letdown after the nose though. Seems a little thin, especially on the finish. Slight vinosity provided by the raisin and cherry. Hints of brown bread, brown sugar, and molasses as well.

Mouthfeel- A little more than light bodied with light carbonation which works for the style. Nice and neat slightly dry finish. Hints of smoothness. Very clean malt bill leaves the tongue feeling fresh.

Drinkability- This beer is a bit unassuming and as result, drinks fairly easy. No indication of alcohol. Just a very clean, almost creamy beer. 4 dollars for half a liter of a world renowned beer seems more than reasonable.

Overall- Really good, solid beer. I'm not the biggest fan of doppelbocks but this one is a good example of the classic style. I prefer Ayinger to this, but Celebrator seems to me an anomaly among doppelbocks. Glad that this is finally being distributed in Oregon. This is a must try and will be a repurchase if it continues to be distributed here.